Rates for translation depend on language combination, subject, turnaround time, and many other factors. Therefore it is difficult to give flat rates which would apply to all clients. (It may be possible to negotiate flat rates for translation agencies or for clients with large volumes of steady work.)
Furthermore, the persecution of the American Translators Association by the Federal Trade Commission under the administrations of President George H.W. Bush (the elder Bush, father of the current President Bush) and President William Clinton over the matter of alleged "price fixing", and the action against the AIIC (an interpreter organization) make it risky to discuss such matters in a public forum. For information about the case against the American Translators Association, see the articles in the ATA Chronicle and the Translation News. The website of Linguabase has a page that provides links to a few of the most important of these documents. A recent article by Mary David in the ATA Chronicle (April 2005, pp. 2-5) summarizes what happened and the responsibilities of members to avoid similar action in the future.
The one public forum where translation rates are discussed is in the ATA's Translation and Interpreting Compensation Survey, which can be purchased on the Publications web page of the ATA website.
If you desire a quotation, please call Thomas Hedden at +1 (978) 371-2126 during regular Massachusetts business hours, send a fax to +1 (978) 371-2126 (call first: fax is not on autoanswer, to reduce unsolicited advertisements), or send an e-mail message to me.
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Minor updates to header and e-mail links on 10 October 2003. Made the following updates on 10 November 2003: removed the word "recent" from reference to FTC suit against the ATA; removed words "still current" from reference to suit against interpreter organization; added link to ATA's web page about the ATA Chronicle; made XHTML 1.0-compliant. 7 February 2006: Changed reference to the Clinton Administration to include that of (the elder) Bush and added link to Linguabase website. 9 November 2007: added link to article by Mary David and mentioned ATA Translation and Interpreting Compensation Survey.
Copyright © 2003-2007 Thomas Hedden
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